Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-02-13
TENNYSoN'S EARLY LOVE.

fhe Original Of Maud" and the Hero
Inc OF 'Locksiey Hail."
Those who are familiar with the story
q Alfred Tennyson's life the new name
does not suit him so well as the oldD will
smile on reading his latest work. Locks
ley Hall Sixty Years After" over the
spirit Of self deception which run
throughout the verses. To the world
'sMaud'' and ..Jocksley Hail. are beau
tiful poems only. A few know that they
ere something more than poems of the
imagination-they are heart records. In
the sequel to "Locksley Hail." just pub
lished, the poet tells his grandson that he
could never have loved a wording like
Judith. who has played such sad havoc
with the susceptible youths feelings. but
this is precisely what he did. When Al
fred Tennyson was a promising young
poet crowned with Oxforl's academic
hurels, he wooed his first cousin. the
story OF which wooing he afterwards
wove into beautiful verse and gave to the
world. Another sutton, the wealthy heir
10 the earldom Of Boyne, however. ap-
peared IN the scene and the fair Amy,
afterwards SD literally adjectived as
''false and ~servile," became a peeress.
Lord Boyre, who is the owner of large
estates and valuable coal mines in the
county of Durham. the heart Of the
northern coal fields of England. freely
extended his hospitality 10 his brides
cousin at Brancepeth castle, q molern
but impo7ing mansion. The poet repaid
the Kindness by satirizing the good
naturel peer. his brand new title and his
recentlv acquired wealth most mercileSsly
in .'Miud'' and ''Locksley Hall" In
dependent Of his wife's very natural in
dignation. Lord Boyne wa not gratilied
TO find his beautiful home described by a
recent guest as a ''gewgaw" castle, or al
having the world informed in verse. how
ever harmonious, that his wealth had
come from the sweat Of miners: neither
did he enjoy the thought that the tongues
Of the world were wagging over the
story of his money having bought him a
wife who preferred another lover. 1t is
possible, too. he failed to see the beauty
Of those Rembrandt-like touches wherein
he is described as a clown and drunken.
II might be beautiful poetry, the out
ragged host urged, but it was o good
taste, and it was not true. His lordship
b certainly one of the most common
place and uninteresting of peers or Of
oommoners. but he is neither coarse nor
drunken, and Brancepeth castle with its
shivering larches knew Tennyson no
more.
Mr.. T~ennyson's wounds healed like
those Of many another lovesick swain
whose limited faculty of expression could
not lead him into such l~#ir.val Of the
Lares and Penates; but populs, rs he is
y poet, he has never gone Ia The hearts
OF the English people. In his early days
he was radical 10 the core, and his verses
overflowed with the hest instincts of hu.
mainly. Time has brought him wealth
and he has accepted a Iceragc. from
which IL is safe 20 assume that he no
longer feels that contempt for new titles
which he did in the days when he lam
pooned his successful rival. In reading
his latest production one is reminded Of
. famous mot, applied by a wit to an
~overpraised nobleman: II heard you
we're a lord among wits, but | find you
ere only a wit among lords" Alfred
Tennyson was nee a lord among poets.
his new volume has proved him merely q
poet among lords.-New York World.